


Castle on the Hill

by thewaterfalcon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Divide, Ed Sheeran - Freeform, Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 20:59:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10579377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewaterfalcon/pseuds/thewaterfalcon
Summary: Prompt:~Marauders (written before challenge started)





	

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
> ~Marauders (written before challenge started)

 

_ _

__

* * *

 

_ Found my heart and broke it here _

_ Made friends and lost them through the years _

_ And I’ve not seen the roaring fields in so long, I know I’ve grown _

_ But I can’t wait to go home _

* * *

 

  
  


He could wholeheartedly admit that it hadn’t been his most calculated move, and that was really saying something, considering that reckless decisions were something of a Sirius Black flagship. But really, was it  _ entirely  _ his fault that the building  _ just across _ the road from the very spot he’d stopped by sheer chance at just happened to play home to a motorbike dealership? And had he played any part in the decision-making that had determined what, exactly, the current  _ Deal of the Week  _ had been? 

 

No, of course not.

 

Sirius brought his right leg downwards, his knee bending slightly, the bike’s weight was now depending solely on his strength to stay upright. Steadying both himself and the bike, Sirius reached his foot backwards and pulled the kickstand outwards. Grinning, he felt satisfied the bike was entirely steady without his input, he allowed his form to relax as he trailed his right hand over the top of his head. Long, course fingers untangling what parts of his knotted mane they could reach, whilst his left hand still gripped the soft, leather handlebar.

 

Riding a bike again, especially one that resembled his old one so precisely, felt indescribably good. 

  
  


What Sirius  _ hadn’t  _ banked on, when he had offered his parents’ property to be used as an Order safe house, was that staying in the place that had caused his childhood to be an experience of sheer unhappiness wasn’t in his best interests.

 

It had been the subject of many a deliberation, between Sirius and Remus, and Sirius and Sirius. Having spent so many years in a hellish loneliness, Sirius had grown used to making decisions, not that there had been that many to make whilst he had been incarcerated, alone, and ultimately, despite what may be his better judgement, Sirius knew in his heart that, as much as it going back would try and break every part of him, but as long as Harry was alive, then Sirius had to be as well, and as much as it pained him to admit it even to himself, he knew Grimmauld Place offered him safety. 

 

_ He’d just wanted to stretch his legs before he went back... _

 

_ He’d just wanted to  _ look _ at the motorbike… _

 

_ He’d just wanted to feel the way the wind felt as he rode, one last time...  _

 

Finding himself nearly two hours North of London, travelling down a myriad of familiar, country lanes had certainly not been on the agenda. 

 

Sirius knew exactly where his heart had taken him. The roaring fields that surrounded the area in which James’ parents, Sirius’s surrogate family, had made their life were all around him, the landscape absolutely unchanged. Sirius knew he’d grown in every perceivable way since he’d last looked upon the sight, but for a brief, unquestioning moment, he couldn’t wait to go home. 

 

“Come on girl,” Sirius said, patting the side of the bike affectionately, squinting in the summer sun, he could just make out the silhouette of a large building that was sitting majestically on top of a faraway hill, “let's see if we can get you up to 90.” 

 

* * *

 

_ Twenty One Years Earlier… _

 

“How did you even get that?” Remus asked, his nose wrinkling as he tentatively brought the small, glass bottle of clear liquid to his nose, inhaling the scent of the spirit with a grimace.

 

“Bought it,” Sirius answered with a wink, “managed to charm the girl behind the till.”

 

“You’re fifteen,” Remus replied, shaking his head, his disapproving expression was laced with an awe he would never admit aloud, “and this smiles vile,” he concluded, his face crumpling together as he took a weary sip of the vodka. 

 

“It’s because I'm so mature.”

 

“Hah! I didn’t think you knew the word  _ ‘mature’,  _ Pads,” James piped up from Sirius’s other side, his scruffy hair was even messier than usual from the sunbathing he’d been doing all afternoon. Now, he leant back on one propped up elbow as he held a hand out to take the bottle of vodka from Remus.

 

“Hows that cig coming, Pete?” Sirius asked the fourth boy, who was bent over, concentrating on rolling two, identical cigarettes.

 

“Here,” Peter said as he handed one of the cigarettes to Sirius, who was pulling a lighter from the pocket of his jeans.

 

“Cheers, who knew you’d come in so useful, Wormy, these are perfectly rolled,”

 

“Some people can sing, some can dance-”

 

“Some can roll exemplary fags,” Sirius interrupted Peter’s words with a snort.

 

“It’ll be dark soon, when do you guys want to head back to my parents?” James asked, taking another, bolder, sip of the vodka, his pale face screwing up as the liquid hit his tongue.

 

“Let’s just stay here,” Sirius said, taking a drag of his cigarette, he was looking straight ahead, where a hill was visible, “it’s alright here.”

 

“Yeah mate,” James replied, passing the vodka to Peter, “it is.”

 

And so, with cheap spirits and hand-rolled cigarettes, the four friends watched the sunset over the castle on the hill. 

 

* * *

_ I’m on my way, I still remember _

_ These old country lanes _

_ When we did not know the answers _

* * *

 

  
  



End file.
